I'll be spending my New Years day at a hotel with all the other poor bastards who are shipping on the 2nd. Fun.

I'm nervous now, kind of like going to the doctors to get a shot. I know the Drill Seargents wont be nice to us like the first time through (WSU ROTC, nine weeks in 1997) and they will do their utmost to be a singularly unpleasant shock to us upon arrival. I dont wish to be shocked, or noticed, I've been associated with the training end of the military since I started college seven years ago and now I'm finaly "going down the tube".

Somehow my nightly mile run and workout seems to be not nearly enough. Shouldnt have eaten as much as I did at the Mother in Laws last week. Shouldnt have let pop make me dinner (he was a DI though back in the stone ages). I feel competent, I'm ready for fourteen weeks (nine Basic, five AIT) away from home, away from the wife and the family. What I will miss the most is quiet and creative time.

Time shooting what I want to shoot, when I want to shoot, how I want to shoot, WHERE I want to shoot.

Time to read a novel, time to take a nap, or perfect a wargame scenario.

I wish I could skip the first three weeks of Basic as I've already been over, and over, and over again what they will teach us, and get right to the interesting stuff.

In '97 my platoon (First Squad, First Platoon, Charley Company, 46th Mechanized Infantry) was the best in the whole training camp, best at drill, best diciplined, best PFT scores, best range scores. Our guidon looked like a wooly Christmas tree. How can a mixed bunch of enlistees possibly compare to that? A bunch of kids who havnt been away from home, havnt been out in the world (real or college), and dont know how to handle themselves under pressure? I wouldnt worry about it so much, but I dont want to get smoked for their ill-behavior. I want to please and impress my Drills, I want to make them look good, and make them proud of us as their recruits...

So much uncertainty.

Havnt even been able to sleep much lately, between the wife and the old man someone is always ringing me out of bed or waking me up an hour too soon...even now with three days left I've got people dragging me here and there. Trying to squeeze the last bit of my time....

Ugh. I wish I'd just ship already....

Just hung out with a family member who is 4 weeks into basic at Ft. Benning. He was home on Christmas break. I think he's in shock a little.

Good luck!!

I will start week 5 of basic on the 3rd.  Also married with children and 32 years old, no prior service.  I can't wait for it to be over.  My PT scores suck but are improving, I have shin splints like you wouldn't believe.  I hope to finish on time and am keeping my fingers crossed. This is the hardest thing I have ever done, the shock has worn off, grim determination has set in, punctuated by moments of severe self-doubt.  All this for the national guard!  I will make it though!

"ON YOUR FACE RECRUIT!"

Get used to it.  In a few eeks the PT gets to be more of an annoyance than anyting.  The headgames are what breaks you down.  You will be astounded how fast your body can get strong and adapt to physical demands.  The human machine is indeed powerful.  In 2 weeks push-ups will be no worse than eating green beans when you were a kid.  

Good luck to you guys!  I am going through the steps to get into Navy Reserve.  Prior service but since it was 10 years ago I have to submit all kinds of peprwork for approval.  Had to take ASVAB again, physical etc.  17 day Boot Camp for Navy Reservists.  A walk in the park!  BTW I'm 31.  

Here is something that may help with your shin splints:
When you are on a road march, if you have an extra pair of inserts for your running shoes, take out your boot inserts and use the running shoe inserts(for your issue boots).  

Good luck, RebelGray.  And thank you.

Rules for basic training:

#1 Keep your mouth shut.

#2 Keep your Ears open.

That is all.

Aviator

PS, Good Luck

I went in the Air Force a few years ago at the age of 26. I thought I had my shit wired right and I was tight. I had a college degree (AA) I had worked a full time job and held my own in the real world. Boy was I in for a shock. I was in trouble alot and the TI's fucked with me non stop. Thats because they dont like the older guys coming in and undermining their authority over the younger guys. Also they thought I was Air Guard and for some reason Active and Guard dont mix well. But I took their shit and I weathered the storms and I got through it. Granted AF BMT isnt that hard physically they sure do mess with your heads. I saw kids who could run like the wind and crank out push ups but they would break down at academic tasks and details. All  can say is take everything with a grain of salt, dont let the DI's bullshit get you down and keep a positive attitude and before you know it you'll be home again. Good luck and thanks for picking up some of the load of our nation's defense.

RebelGray, I went to Navy Boot Camp when I was 21, I turned 22 while I was in.
Just put your brain on a shelf and do what you are told for the next few weeks.
For me it was a vacation.
They yelled at me, made me run, do extra PT, big deal.
When the CC thought I wasen't being challenged enough he fired the second in command of my company and put me in his place.
No biggie.
Running, classes, PT, eating, sleeping, like I said it was a vacation.

Don't worry about it, Boot Camp is about learning to work together as a team.

RebelGray, Good Luck, keep a positive attitude, never doubt your abilities to get through this. Remember that the mind will quit before the body, Mind over Matter, hence the saying; "if you don't mind, it don't matter.                                                  ...JackBurton, good Luck to you too and everyone else on this board that is going into the service, and Thank You. JackBurton, at age 32 it is remarkable to see you going in with no prior service, I'm a bit over the age limit now, but even if I were not, I don't think I could make it through USMC boot camp again. Hat's off to you.

Thanks everyone. Just did a midnight mile and I feel good. I've got a lot of reasons to stick it out and do my best, all of you just part of one of them :)

Good luck... and you don't have a driver's license!

For shin splints:

Pull your leg up to your chest & make about 20 circles with your foot to the right & then 20 to the left.  Then repeat with the other leg.

IIRC, this pulls the muscles away from the bone BEFORE it starts to hurt during your run.  At any rate, it works.  I do it every day.

Where are you going?

Best advice came from Aviator - Mouth SHUT, ears open, eyes wide open.  

I went through Infantry OSUT at Benning in '88, when I was 17 and a month....I was the youngest recruit in my platoon.  It damn near wasted me physically, as I was a 2-pack-a-day smoker back then.  You're going to be a lot better off than most by working out beforehand.

QS

What he said.

QS-
Going to keep the gold company :) Same place I went as a ROTC cadet.

Dont know if I get shin splints. I always feel unpleasant. Running has always, even when I was good at it, been a chore for me. I run because it is what is required of me to be a good soldier, nothing more. If I have to become a marathon runner, so be it, but I chose armor for a number of reasons, one of the biggest being that I get to ride into combat instead of walk....

Since I haven't seen it yet...let me be the first to say: You'll be SORRREEEEEE!

QS

Good luck.

Keep your chin up, and TRUST your DS.

The things that you'll hate the most during training, will make for your most favorite stories later.

Mouth shut, eyes and ears open.

DO NOT CALL THE 1SGT "Dill Sergeant"

Use the training on stuff you already know as refresher, don't ignore it and be cocky about it.

Good Luck.

-UHLEK-

good luck

and....thanks

Yeah, I hate that one. [BD]

So are the drills like constantly screaming and in your face?

I actually am coming in through the Guard and have done three weekend "prep" programs with real DIs. They arnt loud, but they're always jockying us (come on people, move it, FIVE FOUR THREE TWO ONE...) and are sarcastic, and a little on the mean side (yes I know they're not actually mean but you know what I'm getting at). I'm kind of hoping thats what real DIs will be like. It seems like once you fall into a rut behind them the rest of its cake....Occasionaly they will actualy act politely towards you when your getting issue or they're talking to you in chow line.

And when do we get time to read our soldier books, polish our boots, write letters, go to the PX? (for shoe polish, etc...?)

God speed my man! Do yourself proud!
AB

Rebel, Im not going to tell you anything the other guys here have told you!...I look forward to meeting you at "Summer Camp" (YTC-Yakima training center) in the next couple years!

I know for a fact that this will be the best thing you have ever done in your life!...You are going to figure out that your body will do things you never knew possible!

And one more thing....( all of you guys that know better keep your pieholes shut!)[:D]

 When you get ready to go into the NBC (gas) chambor.....

[size=4] DRINK LOTS OF MILK FIRST! [/size=4][BD]

You have a good one! and Good luck!, You are about to become one of the best trained fighting men in the world!...

You just MIGHT be an asshole. [:D]

Have you been talking to my wife? [:D]